The Ole Miss men’s basketball team fell 59-55 in a back-and-forth matchup with Oklahoma in the ESPN Events Invitational championship game Sunday afternoon in Florida.
It is the Rebels’ (6-1) first loss of the season. Freshman guard Amaree Abram led all players with 17 points.
Ole Miss led by two at halftime behind eight points apiece from freshman guard T.J. Caldwell and junior guard Matthew Murrell. The Rebels trailed briefly early in the second half but quickly rallied with a 6-0 run.
Oklahoma (6-1) retook the lead with 11:09 left in the half on a Grant Sherfield layup, part of a Sooners 13-2 run. Abram rattled off a 5-0 run of his own to put Ole Miss back in front. Four straight points from Bijan Cortes then put the Sooners ahead for good. Oklahoma finished the game on a 7-0 run.
Ole Miss plays at Memphis at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.